US congressmen propose war crimes resolution by Serbian forces in Kosovo: End with impunity

American congressmen through a proposed resolution have sought justice for survivors of sexual violence during the recent war in Kosovo.

On the subject of this draft Described is the case of violation against the former Kosovo delegation, Vasfije Krasniqi-Goodman, who is also American nationals, for whom justice is required, Periscope.

In this proposal, the resolution is called on the Government of Serbia to bring to justice individuals responsible for the sex crimes of war, including the 14 April 1999 case of Vasfije Krasniqi.

For this proposed resolution, President Vjosa Osmani has written, which said she hopes it will be adopted.

Meanwhile, congressmen call on the US government to raise Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman's case in future bilateral commitments with Serbia's Government, especially in terms of the war crimes accountability committed against women and youth.

I thank the US lawmakers for seeking justice for survivors of sexual violence during Serbia's genocide war against the people of Kosovo. The voices of our survivors like the voices of Vasphiye and Shyhreet broke the silence and strengthened thousands of others. For all of them, justice is not a choice it is a long denied right. As we approach 14 April National Day of Kosovo for Survivors of Sex Violence During the War this recognition is a powerful step forward. I look forward to adopting this resolution”, she said.

Full text of resolution:

Calling for an end to the impunity of the unpunished crimes of Serbian sex war during the 1999 war in Kosovo in the case of the United States citizen and war crimes survivor Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman and other gender-based survivors of sex violence.

While Vasfije Krasniqi was 16 years old during the 1999 war in Kosovo and lived in Lower Stanofc, Kosovo, then under the control of the Republic of Serbia, which was part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and led by President Slobodan Milosevic;

Until, on April 14, 1999, a Serbian policeman entered Mrs. Krasniqi in Lower Stanofc, Kosovo, looking for all male residents and ordered Mrs. Krasniqi went to the police station to make a statement about her father and her brothers, who were not present;

While the Serbian police officer threatened to shoot all in attendance, including Mrs. Krasniqi and her mother, before she could force Mrs. Krasniqi from home and take her to a nearby Serb village;

Until the Serbian police officer forced Mrs. Krasniqi in an empty house off the main road and threw her into piles of dried corn before taking him to his car, where he started raping her, despite her shouting to stop;

Until Mrs. Krasniqi was kept under gun threat and repeatedly raped before losing consciousness;

Until, when Mrs. Krasniqi came to consciousness, she begged the Serbian police to kill him, and the Serbian policeman responded by saying, "No, I won't do it because you're going to suffer more like this”, and threatened to take him to an area full of Serb forces where more people would rape him;

Until the Serbian police officer later entered a shop in the same village, from which an elderly Serb, disabled and forced Mrs. Krasniqi came out of the car and took him to an unfinished house where he raped him;

Until, a few hours later, Mrs. Krasniqi returned to her village where she was left out on the street and told not to tell anyone what had happened;

Until Mrs. Krasniqi did not want to go home to explain to anyone what had happened, but rather walked through the village cemetery and hoped that her life would end there and there;

Until, after arriving at her uncle's house a few hours after the attack, Mrs. Krasniqi did not need to say a word, as everyone knew what had happened, seeing her scratches, bruises, cuts and torn clothes;

Until Mrs. Krasniqi reported her case in the Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK) a day after being violated on 15 April 1999;

Until, in March 1999, with support from the United States, NATO launched a 78-day air campaign against Serbian forces in Kosovo after efforts to negotiate the outcome of the Kosovo war failed, leading to Serbia's agreement to cut off all military activity in Kosovo and facilitate the withdrawal of Serb forces from Kosovo and the deployment of a NATO-led Kosovar Force (FORK);

Until the UN Security Council later adopted Resolution 1244 on June 10, 1999, which established the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) as a temporary government until Kosovo institutions had developed and demonstrated the capacity to govern themselves, which included various competencies, such as the authority to administer justice committed in serious war crimes and committed serious crimes in Kosovo and Kosovo

Until Mrs. Krasniqi reported her case to UNMIK on September 10, 1999, without any results, as well as in French KFOR on 21 April 2004, but the failure of both bodies caused additional difficulties and delays in its case;

Until Kosovo declared independence on February 17th 2008 and has since received recognition of over 100 states, including the United States and 23 of the European Union's 28 member states, although Serbia still rejects such a claim;

Until the European Union's Mission for Rule of Law in Kosovo (EULEX) was launched in 2008 as a civilian mission to support the rule of law institutions, accountability and compliance with international human rights standards in Kosovo under UN Security Council Resolution 1244, as well as to support the Specialised Chambers and Specialised Prosecutors' Office in line with Kosovo's relevant legislation;

Until Mrs. Krasniqi moved to the United States in 2001, was naturalised as citizens in 2006 and now lives in the Texas Roulett, with her husband and two children, each of whom are also citizens of the United States, and has also taken the name Goodman;

Until Mrs. Krasniqi Goodman reported her case to EULEX authorities and gave five interviews from August 2010 to July 2012, and witnesses witnessed from February 2011 to August 2012,

Until, on November 12, 2012, the Special Prosecutor of the Republic of Kosovo (PSRK) has filed the indictment PPS No. 89/2012 against authors Jovica Dejanovic (DOB 09/11/1954), Serbian police officer, and Djordje Boyovic (DOB 13.11.1940), the elderly and disabled Serb, with the then Mitrovica District Court, which was changed on November 30th 2012,

While the main review was held from April 4th to April 15, 2013, and on April 17, 2013, the Constitutional Court of Mitrovica has declared the conviction that the two authors have been acquitted of war crimes against the civilian population (insulted), punishable according to the provisions 22 and 142 of the RSFJ's KP;

Until, October 31, 2013, P prosecutors The SRK has filed a joint complaint under which it is proposed that the court's act of first-instance be changed and Jovica Dejanovic and Djordje Boykovic be punished for the criminal act of war crimes against the civilian population, or the alternative turn to the first-degree court;

As the Public Prosecutor of Appeals pushed the Court of Appeals to accept the complaint of special prosecutors, and the Court of Appeals took its stand on May 27, 2014 and convicted Jovica Dejanovic and Djordje Boykovic and convicted them of war crimes against civilians under the 14th KPPPH (KKPFJ). they have been imprisoned for 12 years and 10 years respectively;

Until, in July 2014, Jovica Dejanovic and Djordje Bojovic filed their complaints against the Act of Appeals Court of Appeals Pakr 50313 on May 27th 2014, and the Supreme Court of Kosovo received a verdict on the immediate release of Jovica Dejanovic and Djrdovic;

Until Jovica Dejanovic and Djordje Boyovic were released, and no one was held responsible for the sexual war crimes committed against Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman;

Given that all previous mechanisms for prosecuting responsibility for war crimes in Kosovo have failed in bringing perpetrators of sex violence to justice, including the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, UNMIK, EULEX and the Kosovo judicial system;

While the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that around 20,000 individuals were victims of sexual violence related to the conflict during the Kosovo War, and Human Rights Watch reports that rape has been used as weapons of war and instrument of ethnic cleansing by Serb forces during the Kosovo war;

Until 20 years later and after raping approximately 20,000 individuals, only one author has been brought to justice, Zoran Vukotic, by the Pristina Foundation Court on July 5, 2021;

Until UN Security Council Resolution 1820 was unanimously adopted on June 19, 2008, condemning the use of sexual violence as a means of war and stated that “rape and other forms of sexual violence could constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutional act concerning genocide”;

Until UN Security Council Resolution 2467 was adopted on April 23, 2019, “recalling the responsibilities of states to end impunity and prosecute those responsible for genocide crimes, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against civilians”;

While Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman testified before the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Commission on April 30th 2019, at a hearing session titled “Kosovo War victims: The search for Justice”, testifying for justice on behalf of its case and 20,000 individuals violated during the war in Kosovo;

Until the Republic of Kosovo first marked on April 14, 2023, the day of survivors of sexual violence during the war in Kosovo that coincided with the date when Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman was kidnapped by Serbian police and then sexually assaulted; and

While the United States acknowledges that prevention and response to gender-based violence worldwide is not only a matter of human rights, justice, equality and equality, it is also a moral and national strategic interest of the United States and its global partners: Now, then, becomes it:

Situated by the House of Representatives (with the Senate reconciliation), which Congress:

(1) finds it punishable that no individual has been found guilty of sexual war crimes against Mrs. Krasniqi Goodman;

(2) strongly condemns the use of rape and other forms of sexual violence and gender - based violence as weapons of war;

(3) underscores the importance of transparent, responsible and independent investigations of war crimes and gender-based atrocities;

(4) commends the Government of the Republic of Kosovo for taking a tangible and multi-sector approach to addressing sexual violence during the country's war;

(5) calls on the Government of the Republic of Kosovo to keep the pledges expressed and accepted in “Protocol for handling cases of Sex Violence in Kosovo”, and to prioritize and accelerate cases of rapes and sexual assaults by the 1999 Kosovo War;

(6) calls on the Government of the Republic of Serbia that

(A) to bring to justice individuals responsible for the sexual crimes of the United States citizen Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman in Kosovo, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1820 and 2467;

(B) to prevent the protection and clogisation of every individual who has been involved in war crimes during the Kosovo conflict and make the investigation and prosecution of each individual a priority;

(C) to implement laws to ensure that the known authors of gender-based violence are held accountable and brought to justice; and

(D) to give priority to the creation and support of proper investigation mechanisms and investigations to extradite known authors and perpetrators of gender-based violence during the 1999 Kosovo war to bring to justice according to all conventions; and

(7) appeals to the United States government that

(A) to support and strengthen its commitments to counter and prevent the practice of gender-based violence;

(B) Establishing Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman's case in future bilateral commitments with Serbia's Government, especially in terms of the war crimes account committed against women and youth;

(C) identify specific factors that increase the risks of gender-based violence and undermine access to services and security;

(D) monitors the efforts of the Government of Serbia and its respective ministries and offices to investigate and prosecute cases of sexual violence during the Kosovo war; and

(E) to allocate enough funds to implement a series of educational, research and non-abservative projects in Kosovo, including training of the judiciary and law enforcement, as well as funding for a rehabilitation centre that focuses on physical and psychological rehabilitation by war trauma and sexual and domestic violence, as well as professional training and employment integration opportunities.